Tired
by Klutzygirl33
Summary: Temperance Brennan is tired, and she can't handle it anymore. Based on the promo for "The Doctor In The Photo".


**Disclaimer **- I don't own Bones and never will. No copyright infringement intended.

**Author's Note - **I don't think it will end well for Brennan on Thursday. The wait for this episode is going to drive me crazy and I think it's going to depress us. This is my take on what may happen!

* * *

Temperance Brennan is tired. She has been for a long time, but trying to solve Lauren's murder has emotionally drained her even further.

And then Brennan is crying and telling Booth she would never tell him otherwise. "I know I told you no to a relationship few months ago, but I made a mistake. I missed my chance." And suddenly, the forensic anthropologist was sobbing even harder than she had been a few minutes earlier.

Booth pulled his SUV into the nearest parking lot. "Bones, stop crying. You know I can't stand it when you cry. And why are you telling me this now? I'm with Hannah."

Brennan tried to answer him, but couldn't. She was too busy choking back sobs. When had she turned into this woman? Brennan took a deep breath and tried to calm down. "I know you are and I apologize. Booth, I know you love Hannah. You should be with her. I can deal with you two together. I'm just really tired right now." The truth was, she wasn't dying, but Temperance didn't want to tell Booth that. She had already spilled too much.

Booth rubbed her back. "Calm down, Bones. It'll be okay. It's okay to fall apart like that this sometimes. You are only human." Why was he speaking in clichés now? He needed her to feel better, even though he was about to reject her.

"Can I have a guy hug right now?" She sounded so heartbreakingly sad that Booth nearly started crying himself.

"Of course you can." He leaned over the seat and hugged her. He could at least give her this before he hurt her even more than he already had.

"Thank you," Brennan whispered when she and Booth finally pulled apart. She still felt tired, but she was at least feeling better than she had five minutes. The forensic anthropologist had no idea that was about to ruined, however.

Booth sighed and decided to go ahead and tell her. "I love you. Always have, but I love Hannah now. I'm with her and I want to see how this relationship goes. And I don't want to hurt you, but I'm happy. Do you understand that?"

Brennan sobbed again and nodded. "Yes. It's okay, Booth. Really." It wasn't, but she wasn't about to tell him that. Where had her best friend gone? She missed him so much. She wanted that Booth back, not the one who crushed her heart every day now.

"I can tell it's not okay, but I've been in your position before. It'll get better. And who knows what'll happen in the future?" He smiled at her, and she gave a fake smile back.

Temperance Brennan just wanted to be alone now. Angela was right, she probably was going to die loveless and alone. And it was all her fault. Why had she let fear ruin everything? "I want to go home." All she wanted to do was curl up in her bed and cry some more. It sounded like a really good plan.

"I'll drop you off. Bones, I want you to promise me that you won't get this involved in the case tomorrow." Booth didn't want a repeat of tonight.

"I don't know if I can." She wanted to solve Lauren's murder, wanted the give the dead doctor some justice.

"You'll be fine in the morning, and soon enough, it'll be just a bad day." Booth grinned at her, hoping Brennan would smile back. She didn't.

"Maybe." Temperance doubted that, however. It was a really horrible day, one she wasn't likely to forget. She wanted this day to be over.

Booth started up his car and started driving toward Brennan's apartment. She cried the entire way back and tried to hide it, but Booth saw right past her attempts. Staring out the window at the rain wasn't a very good way to hide anything. When they got to the building, he walked her up and then hugged her again.

After saying good-bye, he headed home and tried not to feel guilty about his rejection. It didn't really work out too well.

Brennan closed the door behind him and slid to the floor. She couldn't stop crying, no matter how much she tried. She was emotionally out of it and normally wouldn't act like this, but she was just so tired.

After awhile, the forensic anthropologist stood up and made her way into her bedroom. Even though she knew it'd get her sick, Temperance didn't even bother getting out of her wet clothes. She didn't have the energy to change.

Upon realizing that her brain wouldn't shut off, Temperance kept going back over her mistakes. Why had she thought Booth would wait for her? She had agreed with his decision to move on, and he had! First with Catherine, then with Hannah. He was probably going to end up staying with her for thirty, forty, fifty years. It didn't matter that Booth had told her that they didn't have any idea what was going to happen.

Hannah could give him what she couldn't. That much was obvious. And she just had to live with her mistakes and regrets. Temperance didn't want to have any regrets, but it was far too late for that.

But she was going to give Booth what he wanted. She'd move on and pretend like nothing had ever happened in the morning. It'd be hard, but Temperance could do it.

Solving Lauren's murder was her priority right now. She'd try not to be so emotionally invested in the case tomorrow morning, but she had a feeling that was futile.

Everything was crashing down on Temperance Brennan, and she couldn't handle that at the moment. She'd try and pretend that nothing was wrong, but she hoped Booth didn't see right through her, like he usually did.

If she didn't have a murderer to find, Temperance probably wouldn't go into work in the morning. It'd be out of character for her to call off work, which was another reason why she wasn't doing it.

She fell asleep for an hour, around 2:30 in the morning, but nightmares woke her back up. Temperance eventually conceded defeat and got up to write the next chapter of her latest book.

In the morning, Temperance Brennan took a shower and headed to work to finally solve Lauren's murder.

She was heart crushed, but she was also strong. Brennan wasn't okay, but she'd would be eventually.

Booth's rejection wouldn't end her. She wasn't the kind of woman that let a man define her and she never would be.

Temperance held her head up high and found Lauren's murderer. She felt like she had accomplished something, and that made her feel a whole lot better.

She wasn't going to let Booth's rejection break her.

Temperance Brennan's walls were back up and nobody – not even Booth – would be able to scale them.


End file.
